The prestigious annual Rose D'Or Awards (now in their 55th year) honour the very best of international radio, TV and online entertainment programmes, and the awards ceremony took place last night (Tuesday, September 13th 2016). Over 400 programmes from more than 130 broadcasters and production companies in 33 different countries were submitted for this year’s Rose d’Or awards. For the first time, a new competition category, 'Radio Event Of The Year' was created. We entered European Dawn Chorus in this category, and we're absolutely delighted to let you know that ... drumroll... WE WON!!! We're absolutely thrilled to pieces, and a massive thanks to all our EBU and BirdLife International partners, we couldn't have done it without you! Click here to read more about the 2016 Rose D'Or awards (in which legendary funnyman John Cleese picked up the Lifetime Achievement award), and click here to relive - and re-listen to - all the beautiful Dawn Chorus birdsong from right across Europe.

***STOP PRESS*** Dawn Chorus Picks Up Another Award!

We're thrilled to let you know that on Friday, October 7th, the Dawn Chorus won the Innovation Award at the PPI Radio Awards in Kilkenny!

Mooney

Derek Mooney is back! We hear how Dubliner Jessica Cervi is making a name for herself in the West End and Brenda Donohue speaks to a young girl who’s grown her hair long so that she can donate it to people who have lost their own hair...

Mooney's Money

Beat The Budget Blues! Today, we're giving one person the chance to win €114 (to cover the telephone allowance, which was cut in Tuesday's Budget) - AND €1000 of Mooney's Money!

For your chance to win today's prize, answer the following competition question:

Thursday, October 17th 2013

Who had a hit with Call Me - was it Blondie or Brownie?.

If you think you know the answer, call or text the competition line:

ROI: 1515 71 72 00

NI: 0901 293 3501

text MOONEY followed by your answer and name to 57111 (NI and ROI)

Each text entry cost €1 (incl VAT) or GBP £1.00. Calls from the eircom network will cost €1.02 (incl VAT) and from a BT landline will cost GBP £1.02.Calls from other networks and from mobiles will cost more.

Please note, the person named in the entry must be aged 18 years or older as at date of entry.

Competition lines open from 2pm and close at 4.20pm today, (01/10/13) Please do not enter outside of the advertised competition window as you will be charged for your entry, but your entry will not be included. From time to time, these open/close times may vary. Any change to the standard open/close times will be announced here and on the show. The lucky cash prize winner will be announced on-air towards the end of the Mooney show each day!

Please do not enter outside the advertised competition open and close times and date(s) as you will be charged, but your entry will not be included in the draw. Please do not enter during programme replays on the RTÉ Radio Player after the advertised close time and date as you will be charged for your entry, but your entry will not be included as the competition will have closed.

Entrants must be aged 18 years or older as at date of entry and a resident of the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland in order to qualify as the prize winner.

Promoter reserves the right to request proof of age, verifiable by birth cert or passport only, and proof of residency, verifiable by recent utility bill only (issued within 6 months of win).

The Promoter reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal value (as determined by the Promoter) if a prize element becomes unavailable for any reason whatsoever.

Employees of RTÉ, Phonovation, Xiam Interactive and their associated promotional partners, companies or suppliers and their immediate family members are not eligible to enter/win.

RTÉ's decision in relation to selection of competition winner is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

RTÉ standard competition terms and conditions also apply.

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Lesbian IVF Film

The inaugural 'Indie Cork' film festival kicked off yesterday – it’s a festival of independent cinema that runs in Cork until Sunday. And one film to look out for in the festival is Waiting For You – it will be screened tomorrow evening at 5pm in Cork’s Camden Palace and it follows a couple as they try to have a baby.

It’s a very 'honest' account of a lesbian couple’s highs and lows as they try to have a baby. Lisa Fingleton and Rena Blake are the couple featured in the film and, indeed, the film-makers – and producer/director Lisa is in the Radio Kerry studios in Tralee today to tell Derek more about it...

Jessica Cervi & The Commitments

In June 2010, Derek Mooney hosted a TV Series called Fame: The Musical, to find the lead parts of Nick and Serena for the stage production Fame. After a marathon series of auditions, Ben Morris and Jessica Cervi were announced as the winners.

Ben Morris and Jessica Cervi

Now, just three years later, Jessica Cervi is starring in a new West End production of The Commitments. Derek went to see the production, and to meet Jessica, and today he tells us how he got on!

Jessica Cervi, who plays the part of Bernie Mcglouchlin in Roddy Doyle's adaptation of The Commitments

Palace Theatre London

Top Billing - Jessica Cervi's name appears first on the list of 'cast' credits for the West End production of The Commitments

Lighting up the West End - The Commitments at the Palace Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue

The show, which has been more than two years in the making, has been adapted from the novel by Booker prize winning author Roddy Doyle himself and is directed by the award-winning Jamie Lloyd.

The Commitments is the story of Jimmy Rabbitte, a young working class music fan, who shapes an unlikely bunch of amateur musicians and friends into an amazing live act, the finest soul band Dublin has ever produced. The show follows the journey of two members of a frustrated synthesizer band who turn to Jimmy, the local music expert, for help.

Jessica Cervi plays as Bernie, one of "The Commitmentettes" (alongside Stephanie McKeon as Natalie and Sarah O’Connor as Imelda).

The production features soul classics Night Train, Try A Little Tenderness, In The Midnight Hour, Papa Was A Rolling Stone, Save Me, Mustang Sally, and many more.

Tickets for The Commitments (at the Palace Theatre in London’s West End) are available at www.thecommitmentslondon.com. For the moment, they are for sale up until January 26th.

During his time in London, Derek also went to see the new West End production of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, and the location near Tower Bridge which was home to Bridget Jones in the movie of the same name.

Choco-holics have plenty to feast on at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Wonka memorabilia - you can get everything from key rings to calculators!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane London - a must see!!!

Location for Bridget Jones: The Globe pub in the Borough Market, London Bridge

Anaesthetics And Surgery

Hallowe'en is just around the corner, and while ghosts and ghouls don’t really bother Derek too much, there are a few things that frighten the life out of him. Things like being buried alive - or being conscious during surgery when the operating team think he's out cold!

This actually happens to a small number of people who aren’t rendered completely unconsciousness when they are put under anaesthetic.

They are aware of the surgery being performed on them, they experience sensation and pain and they are left – understandably - traumatised by the experience.

Professor Jaideep Pandit from Oxford University Hospitals recently attended the Annual Conference for the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland which was held at the Convention Centre in Dublin.

He’s one of the top anaesthetists in Britain and he’s gathered together research around what happens if you are still conscious after you close your eyes - and that has been published this month in the journal of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

The Rapunzel Foundation

Last Monday, Brenda attended the first National Conference of The Rapunzel Foundation in Dublin.

What they do is encourage the public to donate their hair to make wigs, for those that suffer from devastating hair loss. Founded in 2009, the Rapunzel Foundation works in conjunction with a New Zealand wig company and salons around Ireland to dramatically improve the lives of alopecia sufferers.

Brenda chats to Anna Furlong, founder of The Rapunzel Foundation

To date the foundation has helped fifteen girls and women, and aims to help many more.

Last Monday all sides met at the conference and got to tell their stories. Laura Cleary is 16 years old, from New Ross, and she tells Brenda why she donated her hair...

Brenda with 9-year-old Katelyn Keogh from Wexford, who has alopecia

Brenda met also met with Deanna Beatty and Martina Richards, from New Zealand, who are from Freedom Wigs. Brenda asked them what’s so special about their wigs...

Brenda with Anna Furlong

Katelyn Keogh is nine years old, from Wexford, and she has alopecia. Brenda asked her was she wearing a wig...

Loraine Kiraqney is a mum of two girls from Carlow. She and her daughter both started losing their hair at the same time.

Brenda at the first National Conference of The Rapunzel Foundation in Dublin

Hedgerows: It is an offence to 'cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy hedgerows on uncultivated land during the nesting season from 1 March to 31 August, subject to certain exceptions'. For more information, click here.

UPDATE: February 29th 2016 - Press Release From BirdWatch Ireland:

Putting the record straight: Dates for burning and hedge-cutting have NOT changed

BirdWatch Ireland, Ireland’s largest conservation charity, is very concerned about misinformation that is currently circulating regarding the dates within which the burning of vegetation and cutting of hedges is permitted. It would like to remind landowners that all burning and cutting must cease on 29th February this year and that burning and cutting remains prohibited from 1st March to 31st August.

Despite attempts by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys T.D., to change the laws regulating these dates by introducing the Heritage Bill 2016 earlier this year, it is important to note that the proposed date changes were ultimately NOT made. This is because the bill failed to pass through both houses of the Oireachtas before the recent dissolution of the Dáil in advance of the general election.

The laws in place governing the dates for hedge-cutting and upland burning therefore remain unchanged. The period within which cutting and burning is prohibited are set down in Section 40 of the Wildlife Act 1976 (as amended in 2000), which states that:

(a) It shall be an offence for a person to cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy, during the period beginning on the 1st day of March and ending on the 31st day of August in any year, any vegetation growing on any land not then cultivated.
(b) It shall be an offence for a person to cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy any vegetation growing in any hedge or ditch during the period mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection (above).

The existing law provides exemptions for road safety and other circumstances and should be read carefully to ensure compliance.

Section 40 of the Wildlife Act exists to protect nesting birds. Many of our upland bird species are in decline and are in danger of extinction in Ireland; amongst them is the Curlew, which has declined by 80%. Many birds which nest in hedgerows into August are also in serious decline, including the endangered Yellowhammer. The changes to the cutting and burning dates which had been proposed in the now-defunct Heritage Bill 2016 would have caused serious impacts to these birds. A petition launched by BirdWatch Ireland in conjunction with several other national conservation organisations to stop these changes attracted more than 16,200 signatures and rising.

BirdWatch Ireland would also like to advise members of the public that if they see hedges being cut or fires in the uplands on or after 1st March, such activity could be illegal. In such cases, we would encourage people to contact the National Parks and Wildlife Service (www.npws.ie) to report such activity.

BirdWatch Ireland warmly welcomes the demise of the Heritage Bill 2016 and sincerely hopes that any future administration will consider the importance of Ireland’s natural heritage and will not attempt to reintroduce such a flawed and damaging piece of legislation.

RTÉ.ie is the website of Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's National Public Service Broadcaster.RTÉ is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. Images courtesy of Inpho.ie and Getty Images.